"Top German doctor recommends whiskey to protect against COVID-19"

https://www.wearethemighty.com/Featured/whiskey-protect-against-covid-19

Well, I'm doing my part.

For Good Friday

MY God, my God, look upon me; why hast thou forsaken me?

and art so far from my health, and from the words of my complaint?
2 O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not;

and in the night season also I take no rest.
3 And thou continuest holy,

O thou Worship of Israel.
4 Our fathers hoped in thee;

they trusted in thee, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They called upon thee, and were holpen;

they put their trust in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But as for me, I am a worm, and no man;

a very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn;

they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads, saying,
8 He trusted in the LORD, that he would deliver him;

let him deliver him, if he will have him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb;

thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my mother's breasts.
10 I have been left unto thee ever since I was born;

thou art my God even from my mother's womb.
11 O go not from me; for trouble is hard at hand,

and there is none to help me.
12 Many oxen are come about me;

fat bulls of Bashan close me in on every side.
13 They gape upon me with their mouths,

as it were a ramping and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my
tongue cleaveth to my gums,

and thou bringest me into the dust of death.
16 For many dogs are come about me,

and the council of the wicked layeth siege against me.
17 They pierced my hands and my feet: I may tell all my bones:

they stand staring and looking upon me.
18 They part my garments among them,

and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD;

thou art my succour, haste thee to help me.

-- Psalm 22:1-19

I was standing in line at the store yesterday, where they had marks on the floor how far apart to stay. And I thought, "Stay at home unless you really have to go out. Avoid other people as much as possible. Keep your distance from everyone. Finally, a world I can live in." Now everyone is like me.

G. F. Handel: Messiah HWV 56

I know I've said this in the past, but it bears repeating. Especially now, if you need comfort--after all, the opening words are "Comfort ye my people." If you never have, take two hours, do nothing else; this is the perfect time for it; sit down, and just listen. Let it soak through your soul, into your spirit. Let the waves of the music wash over your body. And attend to the words--they're all Scripture. If you have never truly listened to The Messiah, then you have missed out on one of the most profound and important experiences in human history. Seriously. Your life is not complete unless you've heard this, watched Hamlet, and read War and Peace.

"Don't Panic."

-- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

When I was a boy, my stepfather, who was at the time a homicide detective for the Atlanta PD, and a Vietnam veteran, used to tell me: "The main thing is not to panic." This is very true, has served me well throughout my life, has saved my life on at least one occasion, and is still true and very applicable right now. 

The coronavirus is mildly lethal, but less so than the flu, or driving down the highway. Far more potentially lethal is coronapanic--and much more to be feared. As is usual on this earth, the deadliest thing is the stupidity of human beings.

So relax, take reasonable precautions, but keep living your life. Just watch out for stupid, panicky people, for they are the real threat. And use this time to deepen your relationship with, and your reliance on, God, and as a learning experience and opportunity for personal growth. This is Not the End of the World. As someone who has spent his life studying the End of the World, I assure you that this is not it. 

Light and Joy

Something very amazing happened a few days ago.

I had one of those nights in which, although I couldn't really remember any of my dreams distinctly, I had the sense of the Lord's presence, speaking and ministering to me, throughout the night. Then, in the morning, I woke up to Carolina having sent me this:

"May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out."

-- J.R.R. Tolkien

And as I sat in bed, as I often do, and reflected, and prayed, and meditated about the night before and the day to come, I began to think about those lights, and colored lights in general and how beautiful and magical they are--how something like a Christmas tree or an outdoor trellis strung with strings of colored lights transports us to a wonderland, a place of peace and beauty and joy out of time, and about how the key to all beauty in visual art is light. And I was also thinking about Hobbits (I began re-reading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings when I thought I was dying), and their ineffable cheerful resilience. And I realized, I think simultaneously, that a) light represents in material form the goodness and joy of God; b) that the secret to Hobbits' strength is their deep wells of unshakable joy; and c) that joy is a spiritual virtue, not just a feeling. 

And as I came to this realization, I began to experience waves of deep, and true, and profound supernatural joy rolling over me, passing through me, welling up from within me. And suddenly, the world looks beautiful again.

"I don't know about sides. I go my own way; but your way may go along with mine for a while."
-- J.R.R Tolkien

New and Improved. I think I've got it right now, although it's probably still a work in progress. 

Our Love

It's not cancer.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know if I'm more relieved or disappointed. On the one hand, I do feel like I haven't accomplished my purpose here yet. On the other, it felt a lot like early parole.

The book of life is brief
and once a page is read
all but love is dead
that is my belief

The Four Loves ('Eros' or 'The Love Between the Sexes') by C.S. Lewis

Come, Lord,
whom my soul has longed for
and longs for still.
Come, Solitary One, to this solitary,
for as you see, I am all alone. . . .
Come, for you have alienated me from all things
and made me be alone in this world.
Come, you who have become my desire
and have made me desire you, the Inaccessible One.
Come, my breath, my life.
Come consolation of my poor soul.
Come, my joy, my glory, my endless delight.
For I must give you all my thanks
for making yourself one with me in spirit.

-- Symeon the New Theologian